PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Hot dogs and hamburgers were cooking on the grill. A DJ was playing dance music under a tent. And the first arrivals were buying raffle tickets for such prizes as a TV and tattoos.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Hot dogs and hamburgers were cooking on the grill. A DJ was playing dance music under a tent. And the first arrivals were buying raffle tickets for such prizes as a TV and tattoos.

Amid it all, John Carnevale, with his dreadlocks draped over his bright yellow Uganda national soccer shirt, wandered about checking to make sure all was ready for another one of his signature block parties to raise money for his dearest causes.

“Always move with love,” he said when asked to explain the meaning of his philanthropic nonprofit, D’Amours Step.

With the help of his large extended family, Carnevale, 31, was expecting to bring thousands Saturday night to an outdoor tent and patio area at Vanity on South Main Street. The purpose: to raise money for a medical center he founded in Kankobe Village, Uganda.

Also, a portion of the proceeds will go to his continuing efforts to help improve school athletic facilities in his native East Providence, where he was a captain in three sports.

“We want to show our support for him and all of his efforts, especially in East Providence,” said Amy Thompson, of Lincoln, as her husband, Sean, purchased raffle tickets. “He’s an amazing man.”

Thompson said they showed up early for the raffle and food, fully expecting throngs of young people to come later for nighttime dancing and drinking.

Carnevale recently moved back to East Providence from San Diego, where he had been working as a mechanical engineer for Raytheon.

It was during that period, he says, that he began using his own money and raising money to build a health clinic and a maternity and dental center for the Ugandan village he first visited in 2009 on a humanitarian trip.

Carnevale says he felt pulled back to his hometown by its support for his charitable endeavors, his family and the town’s needs.

“The city had its back against the wall for a few years,” he says, so “I wanted to help where I could.... No matter where you travel in the world, you want to make sure the city where you grew up is all right.”